I'M A WINNER! :)

March 20th, 2010 will go down in the Willardson's history books as one of Christina Willardson's greatest moments! haha. It was the day I FINALLY beat Darin in a running race!!! I signed us up for a 8k (4.92 miles) race that benefited the Pediatric Cancer Foundation. The race did not allow strollers in the 8k only the 5k walk and we really wanted to run. Our friend Christine R. volunteered to babysit Nash for us and he had a great time playing at Will's house! He is getting to be such a big boy, he doesn't mind staying with out us especially if there is a dog in the house.

The before the race shot.

Our friends the Ockerman's joined us for the race. Riley (pictured below) was our awesome camera man, and his wife Brook ran the 8k with us and their kids ran the Kid 1/2 mile race.

Yes stretching is very important...sadly Darin took it to the next level and tried to embarrassed the heck out of Brook and I! I think he was feeling a little too confident. :)

And we're off!

Darin and I stayed together for the first mile. The girl next to us said we ran it at 7:17! Which I find CRAZY AWESOME but it also explains the rest of the race. I fell back after the first mile and got a good rhythm going but kept Darin in my sights. Brook did the same behind me. On the last mile there is a HUGE hill and I could see Darin getting closer and closer to me. I finally reached him and pinched his bum and said "COME ON!" he looked at me and in a whimper said "GO I am dead." SO I DID! haha Although, I do feel bad about one thing. In all the other races we have ran, Darin has always come back to get me after he finished, this used to irritate me so bad! I think I probably should have done that for him...oops!

With the finish line in sight I was trying so hard to catch that girl in front of me...no luck. She ended up having her picture in the paper and I am standing behind her. :)

I finished 11th out of 46 participants (18-29 age range) and 87th overall with a time of 41:56....NOT TO SHABBY! (for my first official race!)

Brook finished 17th out of 52 participants (30-39 age range) and 99th overall with a 42:56 time.

Darin finished at a 43:10 time and placed him overall at 102 out of 266 participants, and that is all the information I am allowed to give. ;)

The kids race was during ours so we didn't get to see them in action but Riley took some great shots....especially the one of the strange/scary no shirt man walking his dog. ;)

This is Ian Walsh the AMAZING 24 year old man that won the race finishing at a 26:16 time.

Brook has become a great friend of mine. We are so happy they are in our ward. I especially love that she runs and likes to exercise!!!

I would love this to be me someday with my kids after a race. What a great example of staying healthy and fit as a family!

The finishline shot!

Just a little tuckered out!

But don't you worry he literally filled his pockets full of goodies after the race! Maybe this is why Christina is going down in the record books this year!

Philadelphia

The last day Cody spent with us we took a trip down to Philadelphia. We of course went to the aquarium because that seems to be our theme for this year (have you noticed..haha). Nash fell asleep right when we got in the car so we drove around Independence Square and saw the Liberty Bell from the car as well as all the awesome buildings in that area. Then I thought Cody needed a "REAL" Philly Cheese steak so we went over to Pat's.

This is looking at Philly from the Adventure Aquarium which is in Camden, New Jersey.
Nash sure does miss his Uncle Cody.

Shhh their sleeping...

WAKE UP HIPPOS!

The monkey on Nash's back is a back-pack leash. I always thought that was ridiculous but then we tried it out here at the aquarium and I LOVE it! He was able to roam around but we had complete control of where he was. Made life so much easier!

This tank of colorful fish was awesome!

Nash had to lay down to get the full view of the shark tank...

This seal or whatever it is reminds me of Chico my dad's dog, they have all the same characteristcs. Lazy, FAT, short arms, FAT, long tongue, FAT, a glaring stare, and oh ya FAT! It seriously held this pose for the entire time we were looking at him, so maybe he wasn't so chubby after all.

We had so much fun with Cody here in Pennsylvania. We are so happy he came out to visit. We were sad to see him go. Nash started to cry, and now when you ask him where Uncle Cody is, his reply is a gesture like an airplane.

Thanks Cody for coming to visit!

Time Square...

We made it to Time Square just as it was getting dark. Although with all the lights you would think it was daylight. I love people watching on Time Square. Darin had one thing on his mind...Toys R Us....yes you read that right. We spent at least an hour in that store playing with everything. Nash loved it and Cody and Darin enjoyed it just as much. Darin came home with a bubble machine that pumps out bubbles like crazy! He said it was for Nash, HA! Cody bought a remote control helicopter, which he said was for his dog Sancho. :)

Most of the time I don't feel like I was actually in these places because I am the one that is behind the camera. So I had to snap one of me...to bad everything behind me is in focus. :)

Family shot! If you look closely you can see Nash. ;)

Central Park...

I have always heard people talk about how cool central park was but I really didn't think it could be that great...since it is just a park in the middle of a HUGE city! Well I was wrong, I loved central park and I think we should go back and spend a whole day strolling through it. When we went with Cody we were a little short on time and it was getting dark, although that didn't stop me from snapping some pictures of Cody and we let Nash run wild with the stroller!

They are standing on top of that bridge that is always in the movies.

Notice the Dunkin' Donuts...blasted place!

Cody was showing him the squirrels.

We saw this statue of Romeo and Juliet and I wanted a picture. Although, I wasn't prepared to be making out in the photo like Darin wanted...he told me I was a terrible Juliet! haha....I love you Darin!

Ground Zero...

We love the subway!

I don't think there really is words that can describe ground zero. I never visited NYC before 9/11 to know what the skyline looked like before. After seeing the LARGE area where the towers stood the reality of 9/11 is overwhelming!